Megan Rapinoe slammed by USA fans for LAUGHING after missing a crucial penalty in the World Cup shootout against Sweden… before crying on the field as her team are knocked out

Angry USA soccer fans rounded on Megan Rapinoe for laughing after she missed a crucial penalty in the World Cup penalty shoot-out against Sweden, which USWNT eventually lost to be knocked out of the tournament.

It meant that Rapinoe, 38, has played her last World Cup game for the USA. 

She was crying on the field with her devastated teammates in Melbourne after Sweden won but it was her immediate reaction to her own penalty miss that left many fans with little sympathy.

She took USA’s fourth penalty in the shootout to give her team a 4-2 lead in the shootout and blazed her shot high over the crossbar. But as she jogged back to the halfway line, she was smirking and laughing to herself.

‘I don’t see what’s funny about this?’ one fan wrote on Twitter in response. ‘The laughing shows how much this team took this as a joke. So much for being a role model for the rest of the team.’

Another said: ‘I’m generally a Megan Rapinoe fan, but laughing after a missed penalty is not a good look.’

A different USWNT fan said: ‘Megan Rapinoe laughing after she missed a game winning pk… never happier to see a player retire. Never want to see her on my tv again. What a way to end your career.’

Another USA fan tweeted: ‘Megan Rapinoe laughing after missing her PK will be in my nightmares. What a joke.’

The US team had divided some of its fanbase during the tournament in Australia and New Zealand with several of the starting line-up repeatedly refusing to sing the national anthem before their games. 

Rapinoe, a two-time World Cup winner, played every game as a substitute. She had entered this one in extra-time but had struggled to make much of an impact during her time on the field.

USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game he was proud of his team, despite crashing out at the last-16 stage of the competition.

‘I’m so proud of the team, so proud of the girls and the women on the field and everybody outside,’ he said. ‘I know that we were criticized for the way we played and 

‘I know we were criticized for different moments throughout the group stage. I think we came out today and showed what were all about. 

‘We showed grit, resilience, fight and bravery. We showed everything that we could to win the game and unfortunately soccer can be cruel sometimes.’